


Here's to the Night

by wingsyouburn



Category: Jurassic Park Original Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, First Time, Found Family, Implied Sexual Content, Multi, recovering from trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:34:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21824491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingsyouburn/pseuds/wingsyouburn
Summary: They still have their lives. It’s enough to make a man humble.
Relationships: Sarah Harding/Ian Malcolm/Nick Van Owen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 31
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Here's to the Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blurhawaii](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurhawaii/gifts).



> For ~blurhawaii. Happy Yuletide! The prompt that spoke the most to me was trying to find a way that Nick doesn't disappear at the end of The Lost World. I was never fond of the whole "T. Rex rampages through San Diego bit" anyway, so I hope this is a better ending than the one we got. I hope you enjoy! ♥

Trauma comes in different forms. Ian would know, he’s lived this before.    


He can still feel the jaws of the  _ Tyrannosaurus rex  _ chomping through his bones even though the wounds have long healed. He closes his eyes and sees the bunker, Hammond spreading the blueprints over his injured legs and hoping - praying - Ellie can get the power back on. 

This time, it’s Nick who calls for help, Sarah who guides Kelly into the helicopter, the wild of Isla Sorna below them. They never should have come here, but what’s done is done. Ian can set aside his own trauma in order to rescue those he cares about. 

Sarah has never met a challenge she didn’t want to tackle head first, but she knows the price for her hubris now. And Kelly just wanted to spend time with him, and Ian will never forgive himself for what nightmares his daughter will have now. She deserves better, and Ian is a fool for trying to be a better father to her than his own had been to him. 

And then there’s Nick, who somehow still manages half a smile as he collapses into a seat. The pilot calls for them to buckle up, but all of them are too tired to listen. No one cares if they fall from the helicopter right now. It’s a better death than being at a dinosaur’s mercy. “We made it,” Nick says, looking out the window. 

Ian knows what isn’t said:  _ And so many of the others didn’t.  _ InGen did this to themselves. Man could not hope to grab the reins of evolution and come out on top. How many times does Ian have to prove his point? 

Collapsing against him, Kelly lays her head in Ian’s lap. Sarah tucks herself into his other side, and he curls an arm around them both. “Next time I swear I’ll listen to you when you tell me to stay home,” Kelly whispers against him.

Ian strokes her hair. “Next time we won’t go where there’s dinosaurs. Take a real vacation.”

Sarah snorts, but they’re all too tired to fight it. It’s just the three of them, Ian’s little family, and Nick sitting all alone by himself. Like he doesn’t want to interfere, but after what they’ve gone through, doesn’t that make Nick a part of their family too?

The only sound is the roar of the helicopter’s engines. It becomes a buzzing in the back of Ian’s mind, his heart rate not yet coming down from its panicked state. He looks over at Nick and nudges him with his foot. “C’mere.”

Nick blinks. “What?”

“You heard me.”

Ian can barely remember the last flight from a dinosaur-infested island, too much ill-administered morphine and pain. But he will remember this. Kelly shifts her legs around, and Nick sits next to her. His arm reaches over the girl to lay across Ian’s thighs, so he can just touch Sarah. Ian wraps Nick into their shared embrace, closes his eyes, and tries to forget this new round of horror.

His family is safe. Isla Sorna can burn to the ground for all Ian cares. It’s not his responsibility to fix InGen’s mistakes. All he can do is take care of the people he holds in his arms. Maybe this time, society will learn its lesson.

* * *

  
No one is waiting for Nick when they land in San Diego.

Sarah frowns as Nick checks over his things, reassuring the medics that, no, he doesn’t want to go to the hospital even if InGen is paying for it. Ian is arguing with Kelly’s mother while Kelly clings to him - there will be no separating that girl from her father. Given what they’ve just gone through, they need each other.

They need Nick too. Only he’s planning on leaving.

“Where are you going?” Sarah asks, following Nick as he steps outside. InGen thought of everything, and while there are doctors about, the press is blissfully absent. Perhaps she should thank John Hammond for that, but InGen is beyond his control now.

Nick shrugs. “Home? I guess.”

“Where is home for you?” All this time and she’s never asked him anything about himself. Sarah can fix that now.

“Got an apartment on the other side of the city. Not far from the garage.” A garage that was now short an owner. Her heart aches for Eddie, knowing he should be there with them. Nick smiles, but it never reaches his eyes. “Seems like you all have a lot to take care of,” he says, looking over at Kelly and Ian clinging to each other.

“Probably.” Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah watches Kelly’s mother storm off, climbing into her car. Kelly isn’t crying anymore, and that’s all that matters. “We’re headed that way too, I think. We could at least give you a ride.”

He shakes his head. “It’s fine, I called a cab.”

“No, Nick.” Sarah lays a hand on his arm. “We started this together. At least let us finish it the same way.” 

His eyes linger on her. She doesn’t move her hand, and Nick doesn’t pull away. She holds her breath, watching the contemplation in his eyes. For half a second, she thinks he’ll turn her down. 

Then he laces his fingers with hers, giving it a squeeze. Anyone else would have let go after the first reassurance. Nick hangs on, and Sarah lets him. “Okay,” Nick says. “Just a ride.” 

“And dinner!” Kelly calls over. She and Ian are making their way to them, Kelly tucked into Ian’s side. He looks exhausted - they all are - but for the first time in a while, there’s half a smile on Ian’s face. Sarah’s always known that being with his daughter is good for him, even when Ian doesn’t want to admit it. “Dad says I get to pick.” 

“So, pizza?” Sarah says, laughing. 

Kelly makes a face. “I was thinking Thai food, actually.” 

“Which means none of us are cooking and we’re not eating whatever rations we found, so I’m all for it.” Ian shrugs. “You’re coming with us, right, Nick?” 

When all three of them gang up on him, Sarah knows Nick can’t say no. He finally lets go of Sarah’s hand, reaching over to clasp Ian’s shoulder. Sarah finds she likes the sight of that as much as she likes holding hands with him. “Yeah,” Nick says. “At least I know you guys understand.” 

At the end of the day, that’s what it comes down to. None of them want to talk about what they went through. None of them should have to. Not yet. For these brief few minutes, they can pretend that nothing happened. That they’ve just come back from a long trip and are settling back into their regular lives. 

Reality will catch up to them. Sarah knows this. But what matters now are Kelly’s giggles as she climbs into the back of the car with Nick, or the knowing looks Ian exchanges with her. He wants Nick with them, too. To what extent, Sarah can find out. 

Right now, it’s enough that they all get to go home. 

* * *

  
Kelly thinks it’s nice to have Nick around. 

She thought that back on the island too, before everything went to hell. Once it did, and she realized what danger they were actually in, Nick always had her back. She knows that she can trust him, which is more than she can say about a lot of the adults in her life. Her coach on the gymnastics team, knowing of her dream to be in the Olympics someday, lost her trust when she cut Kelly from the team. Her mother is always there, yes, but always with a sharp word to say about her father, or her grades, or her looks. 

Kelly just wants to be a kid, and now she’s been through something no one else at school can relate to. 

She’s glad Ian doesn’t want to send her back to her mom’s. Ian and Kelly never get much quality time together, but she knows he loves her. He is the “fun” dad, the one who lets her stay up all night and eat all the candy she wants and talks to her like she’s an adult, not a child. 

Nick is the same way. He sits with her at the table while Sarah calls in their food order. He doesn’t comment when a noise outside the apartment makes them all jump. In the back of her mind, Kelly wonders when she’ll stop looking for dinosaurs out of the corner of her eye.

If Ian’s experience is anything to go on, maybe that’s never. Kelly believes she’ll be okay. They all will be. 

Ian and Sarah are standing by the kitchen window, his hand tracing lines over her shoulder. Sarah tucks her hand into the back pocket of his jeans. Leaning back in his chair, Nick digs around in his bag for his camera. 

“Whatcha doin’?” Kelly asks. Food should be here any minute and there’s nothing she wants more than pad Thai. “I thought you just did nature photography.” 

Nick holds a finger up to his lips, focusing the camera lens and snapping a photo. It startles the couple, who look in their direction in time for Nick to take another. “Human nature is also a great subject,” he tells Kelly, laughing as Ian flips him off. “I photograph what I want to remember.” 

He’d had the camera on the island, Kelly remembers that. After the first night, she doesn’t recall many photographs of the dinosaurs. Nick hadn’t touched it since the big  _ T. Rex _ attack. Maybe this is always part of Nick’s normal routine. “Did you take any pictures of me?” Kelly asks, curious. 

“A few candids from the campsite. But I like this look more.” Nick points the camera in her direction, and Kelly can’t help herself. She lets down her hair and shakes it out so she can toss it over her shoulder, striking a pose. 

“That’s it,” Sarah encourages, “work it for the camera, Kels!” 

Ian grumbles, but Sarah pokes him in the side and Kelly doesn’t care. Nick indulges her, snapping away, and it’s nice to have laughter fill the apartment again. 

Later, when the food arrives and everyone tucks in, Kelly side eyes Nick. “Are you staying?” she asks him. Like her father, Kelly’s not one to mince words.

“You think I’m going to leave when all this is on the table?” Nick gestures to the food around them. 

“No. I mean, are you going to  _ stay _ ?”

Across the table, Sarah shifts in her seat. Ian studies them both, and if Kelly didn’t know any better, she’d say her father was holding his breath. 

Nick seems to know it, too. He takes another bite, chewing as he thinks. “I’m not gonna go anywhere.”

The answer is enough to satisfy her. Kelly leans into him, resting her head against his shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispers. 

She doesn’t know how to get over what they’ve just been through. Maybe it’s impossible - she knows how Isla Nublar still haunts her father. But together, they can go forward. 

* * *

Later, when the food is put away, it’s like the group breathes a collective sigh and relaxes. Kelly is asleep on the couch, leaning into Ian. He slides out from underneath her, covering her with a blanket. Sarah puts the last of the dishes away in the kitchen. 

And Nick watches. This isn’t his place, this isn’t his home, and yet there’s nowhere else he wants to be. No one else will understand what happened to them. As much as InGen wants to sweep this all under the rug and pretend it never happened, Nick can’t do that. 

He knows what he saw. He knows what InGen did - what they will do again if given a chance. Part of him feels like he should stop it, but it’s beyond him now. Sarah is safe. Ian is safe. Kelly is safe. And Eddie will be mourned and remembered. 

They still have their lives. It’s enough to make a man humble. 

Nick packs up his camera, preparing to leave. It’s clear, at least to him, that this is family time now and he’ll only get in the way. He’ll be back, because he promised Kelly. Tonight, he’s out of place. 

“Hey,” Sarah says, wiping her hands on a towel. “Heading out so soon?”  
  
“Yeah, well,” Nick gestures his head towards Kelly on the couch, “didn’t want to wake the kiddo.” 

“She’ll be out for a while,” Ian says, coming up behind him. There’s bags under Ian’s eyes and Nick knows he doesn’t look any better, but his gaze is as intense as ever. Nick finds he can’t look away. “She’s earned the rest.” 

“We all have.” Sarah lays a hand on his arm, and she’s a different kind of intense than Ian. Still confident, still insistent, and never takes no for an answer. Nick loves that about her. “You too.” 

He shrugs. “Figured I’d do that at my place. You know, now that dinner’s over and all-”

Ian’s hand on the back of his neck startles him, but it’s the good kind. Nick’s breath quickens. “We want you here,” Ian reminds him. 

“So does Kelly,” Sarah adds. “You’re her new best friend.” 

“And we need you,” Ian continues. 

“Need me for what?” 

It’s Ian who moves first, covering Nick’s mouth with the softest of kisses. He doesn’t press, gives Nick plenty of time to pull away, but Nick finds that he doesn’t want to. Ian isn’t the first man he’s kissed, but this is far from the experimenting he did in college, and Ian is so gentle with him.

When he pulls back, Sarah steps in, Ian’s hand still against the back of his neck, and she is much more demanding than her boyfriend. She swipes her tongue over his lower lip, silently asking him for more, and Nick can’t help the moan that slips out of his mouth. Ian chuckles, closing the gap between them, so Nick can feel the heat of him pressing into his side. 

“I don’t understand,” Nick says as he comes up for air. 

Ian nuzzles against him, his stubble tickling Nick’s neck. “This is what we mean when we say we need you here.” 

“So you just want me for my body?” Nick tries to make it sound like a joke, but he isn’t sure it comes across that way. 

Sarah laughs. “That’s only part of it. I promise.” She kisses him again, running her hand down his chest. Nick wraps an arm around her, pulling her into them. Ian drags his teeth over his pulse point, and Sarah swallows Nick’s gasp. 

He can understand it, a little. They’ve all been through something none of them can explain to anyone else. Sex is one way to process that trauma, and he wouldn’t lie - he’d thought about Sarah before. Ian, too, but Ian is a hard man to ignore. The idea that he might be able to have both of them sends a shudder through him. “And after this?” Nick manages to get out, his hand sliding down Sarah’s hip and over her ass.

“We discuss what we want,” Sarah says.

“And what you’re comfortable with.” Ian kisses up his neck to his ear. “I for one kinda want to keep you. Tonight we’re going to enjoy ourselves and see where this goes.”

Nick’s other hand comes up, running it through Ian’s short dark hair. Though he’s slightly worried that Kelly might wake up, he’s too caught up in this moment. He wants this. He wants the distraction, wants to know both Ian and Sarah are there for him and he doesn’t have to go back to an empty bed in a cold apartment. Maybe it only lasts the night, or maybe it turns into something more. Given what they just lived through, and survived, Nick is willing to go on a little faith.

Hooking her fingers through his belt loops, Sarah starts tugging him towards their bedroom. Ian pauses, looking over at the TV screen.

The movie’s ended and the nightly news comes on, InGen’s name scrolling along the bottom of the screen. Some bullshit about the park they want to open in San Diego and the dinosaurs they plan to feature. Nick grabs the remote before Ian can, turning the TV off.

“Fuck InGen,” Nick says, and Sarah murmurs in agreement. “There’s nothing else we can do about them now.”

He doesn’t tell Ian to let it go. None of them can let it go. But he also hopes they’ll learn from their past mistakes, and the future might be better. The only future Nick is concerned with involves their clothes on the floor and the door locked behind them.

“Come on,” Sarah says, reaching over for Ian. Her touch brings him around to himself, and Ian blinks at her. “To bed. Both of you.”

“Yes ma’am,” both men answer, and her laughter is almost enough to wake Kelly on the couch. Nick kisses her first this time, and she melts against him, and it’s then that he thinks this might be a good idea after all.

Maybe there’s healing in Sarah’s kisses and Ian’s hands running over his body. Maybe there’s healing in living in the present moment, letting the future take care of itself. Nick isn’t sure, but he thinks the three of them might get there someday. This is enough for tonight. This is enough for right now. Tomorrow can wait for them to catch up.

Later that night, as he drifts off with an arm around Ian’s waist and Sarah tucked behind his back, Nick finally sleeps. The sounds of the city and Ian’s soft snores lull him, and for the first time in days, he doesn’t listen for the sound of a dinosaur’s roar.


End file.
